Devil's Bargain
by WolFang1011
Summary: What's more important? The world, or your world?


The world was beautiful.

Through all his travels, he'd seen a lot of it. More than most. He'd seen castles carved out of hills, seas meeting skies and becoming one, mountains so high that the clouds obscured the top. He'd seen it all. Or that's what he thought.

What he saw before him had not only challenged that notion, but utterly decimated it.

Stretched out as far as the eye could see was a carpet of sparkling emerald. Richer than any he'd seen. The only hint that it was grass came when the breeze, carrying the chill of the distant snow-capped peaks, caused the blades to sway. Up above, puffy clouds sailed listlessly across a bright blue sky. It mirrored the depth of the oceans and he could taste it. Almost. The sun, too, seemed to be milder. Its beams lit the canyons dotting the horizon brilliantly, making them shimmer. Like the lights from a city obscured by fog.

Birds chirruped around him. The breeze blew against him, setting his clothes aflutter. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Turned his face skywards.

Yes, the world was beautiful. Sunlight, the breeze, the sky, the grass, the clouds. Whatever he could see seemed to be touched by the archangels of Ormazd. As if the good God had grazed his fingertips through the lands he had forsaken. An act of kindness. Repaying the faithful.

Except… there was nobody left to repay.

The world, beautiful as it seemed, was barren. Empty. Stripped of everything. Abandoned. There was no laughter, no banter, no singing. No life. Nothing.

At least it looked pretty. _His_ world didn't even have that. _His_ world was built upon lies and deceit, founded upon broken hearts and promises. Of things left unsaid, of whispers in the dark, of desires unfulfilled.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the body lying peacefully on the stone slab.

His world was dead.

People were capable of insanely selfish things. He knew that. Too well. He also knew that those same people could be the most selfless under different circumstances. Not often did he see someone embody the extremes of both.

Sacrifice wasn't always necessary. She'd done it anyway. For the land, where nobody lived. For her people, who were gone. Everything she did, she'd done for things that weren't there anymore.

So, what about him? He was right there. What was left for him?

For he knew he couldn't go back to his old life. She had changed him. Put something in him that was intangible. Incorruptible. It had felt like a gift at the time. Now, it seemed more like a curse.

What was there to be good for? For whom was he to exist? The colour permeating every inch of the landscape sickened him. It made him bitter. Sad. Angry.

The colour, the warmth… it didn't reach his heart. It remained grey. Unfixed.

Broken.

He didn't care about the Gods. About Ormazd or Ahriman. He didn't care about the world. He didn't care about such grand, lofty things. He was a grain of sand in a desert. He knew that. Just another man making the best of his life. Living day to day. Trying to get by.

It was hard to care about the big picture while going hungry to bed. It was hard to care while not _having_ a bed. Or a roof.

The world was shit. It gave him nothing, so he took what he could. Then, finally, it gave him something worth keeping. Only to take it away.

And _that's_ what he cared about. He cared about her. He missed how her smile would light up his chest, how her laughter made him grin like a fool, how her voice played his heartstrings like a fiddle.

What he wanted, _all_ he wanted, was to have that back. To have his world returned to him. To not let 'I'm sorry' be the last words spoken between them.

All he wanted was to tell her his name and hear her say it.

Something small. Gentle. Simple.

He glanced up. The final revelation had hit like a mule's kick. But he knew what to do. What he wanted to do. Whether it was Ahriman or Ormazd that was whispering in his ear, he didn't care.

All his life he'd lived on the edge. Rolled the dice, never looked back and never thought twice. Everything was a gamble, after all. So when it came time decide to undo all his work for the chance of something beautiful, he didn't have to think twice, either.

Taking another deep lungful of the clean air, he looked down at her restful face once more. Considered brushing his fingers through her hair. Thought better of it.

Then, he started walking down to the trees, resolved to snatching his world back.


End file.
